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The Ten Funniest Television Scenes of the Last Year

By Dustin Rowles | TV | July 13, 2022 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | July 13, 2022 |


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The Emmys were announced yesterday, and they got a lot right and some wrong. The thing that the Emmys doesn’t recognize (even in its comedy category) is just how hard it is to make viewers laugh. It takes a special moment to make us guffaw in this environment, and so I’d like to honor not the “best,” or “most dramatic,” “well acted” or ‘best-written” shows of the last year (June 30th, 2021 to July 1st, 2022), but the funniest television moments of the last 12 months.

10. Saturday Night Live, “Sarah Sherman gives an SNL studio tour” — It wasn’t the most memorable season of SNL (with the exception of an episode featured further down this list), but the season finale reassured us not only that Sarah Sherman may be the next big star of the series, but even with Leslie Jones and Pete Davidson gone, there will still be someone else around to give Colin Jost sh*t.

9. Reservation Dogs, “William Knife Man meets Uncle Brownie” — The Emmy voters haven’t recognized the brilliance of Reservation Dogs yet (they will), but rest assured, it’s one of the smartest, funniest shows on TV. Most of the comedy is not of the laugh-out-loud variety, but this scene definitely is — it is age-restricted, so you’ll have to watch it on YouTube. (Dallas Goldtooth, also in the second season of Rutherford Falls, stole every scene he was in).

8. Girls5Eva, “Property Brothers Fight” — There were a number of great and hilarious scenes in this season of Girls5Eva (including every moment Chad Coleman is on screen), but this is one of the few I could actually find (bad) video for. It just happens to be the funniest moment of the season, when Paula Pell gets into a brilliantly choreographed fist-fight with one of the Property Brothers while the other Property Brother roots for his own brother’s death.

7. Afterparty, “I’m Three Dots from Stardom” — In a year when even most comedies are bleak shows about processing trauma (hello Barry), it was nice to watch a purely enjoyable and funny murder-mystery comedy that combines Clue, Knives Out, and Rashomon, plus this fantastic musical number from Ben Schwartz’s character.

6. Abbott Elementary, “Baltimore Pizza” — There are a number of scenes from Abbott Elementary that could have made this list (many of which involved Janelle James), but my favorite is when Gregory claimed that his favorite pizza was “crunchy, wet” Baltimore pizza, only to have to admit that he hated pizza when another teacher, Jacob, brought him back the wettest, crunchiest Baltimore pizza he could find.

5. Jerrod Carmichael’s SNL Monologue — With the exception of mostly those who had seen his canceled-too-soon sitcom, Jerrod Carmichael seemed to come out of nowhere, dropping on HBO the best stand-up comedy special since Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette with Rothaniel and appearing the next day on SNL, where he was given the best material of the year with which to work: The Will Smith slap. I am so glad this guy is the future of stand-up.

4. Umbrella Academy, “Footloose” — I debated whether or not to include this, because it’s more delightful and bad-ass than funny, but it is also very funny. In the season three premiere of Umbrella Academy, the Umbrella Academy meets the Sparrow Academy for the first time and, during a dream sequence, decide to settle matters with a dance-off, which is mostly an elaborate recreation of Kevin Bacon’s dance in Footloose, only with actual superheroes.

3. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Dennis Coughing” — It felt like this most recent season — in which the Gang goes to Ireland — came and went in a blur (probably because it was only 8-episodes, dropped two-at-a-time in December), but Dennis trying to stifle a Covid cough for the better part of an episode gave me cry-tears. Just listen to the sound of this cough.

2. Loot, “Hot Ones” — Maya Rudolph had already pulled this off once as Beyoncé on SNL, but it’s no less funny watching her appear on “Hot Ones” with the actual host of the show, Sean Evans, in an attempt to rehabilitate the image of her character after her divorce. Loot itself is good (and getting better), but this is the best three-and-a-half minutes of its run.

1. I Think You Should Leave, “Coffin Flop” — Tori and Dan recently strong-armed me into finally watching Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave and while it is hit-and-miss like most sketch shows (although this one is considerably more hit), there is nothing from the last year that made me laugh more than this two-minute sketch for a fictional television show on CornCob TV called “Coffin Flop.”

(Honorable Mention, because Tori is making me: “The Apocalypse DJ” from Kids in the Hall).


Header Image Source: Apple TV+